


Dumb-Dumb

by Iamacarrot



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: But that's Donnie for ya, Donnie was a bit mean in Mind Meld, Emotional Hurt, Hugs, I like to think that Mikey is smarter than he puts out, Light Angst, Post "Mind Meld"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 15:44:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18055349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamacarrot/pseuds/Iamacarrot
Summary: Words DO hurt, Donatello. Even if it doesn't seem like it.





	Dumb-Dumb

"No! The blue's supposed to go over here! Or, wait, is it the green? Isn't there supposed to be an indigo? No! Violet!"

Donatello poked his head outside of his lab in mild interest, confusion running through his mind at the sight of Mikey, who was trying to work with a Rubik's Cube. An odd sight indeed, for a mutant such as Mikey, who never was truly focused on mind puzzles such as the one he was holding.

"Michael? What are you doing?" Donnie inquired, sitting next to his brother on the edge of the ledge on which the lab was perched.

Only then did Donnie notice the tear streaks on Mikey's mask. It was obvious that something had upset Mikey, but there was little chance of the young teen giving up what it was so easily. Thus, leaving Donnie to try and guess, whilst also focusing on Mikey's troubles.

"Ah, the Rubik's cube. A wonderful puzzle indeed. Nothing more than algorithmic patterns and colorful distractions." Donnie chimed, easily solving the puzzle in a matter of two minutes. "I can teach you how to solve it if you... want..."

Mikey sniffled, pulling his knees against his plastron. Donnie tilted his head, unsure of how to fix a problem that he hadn't caused. At least, Donnie didn't  _think_ that he'd caused any problems. Then again, it was really difficult for Donnie to tell when he said something too harsh to his brothers. Especially due to the fact that they rarely showed when it affected them. Until they couldn't take it anymore, that is.

"Is... something plaguing you?" Donnie asked, knowing the answer to the honestly stupid question. "I can attempt to help, if you need me to."

Mikey shook his head, standing and walking away. This didn't do much to help Donnie understand what was wrong, but the Softshell decided to let things be. If Mikey needed help with emotional problems, then he could always go to Raph or Leo. Each of the brothers knew how bad Donnie was with emotions, anyhow. Without a word, Donnie stood, returning to his lab, and working on a new project.

In all honesty, Donatello was only really starting all of these new projects, to avoid working on the drill. The Softshell honestly enjoyed when his brothers nagged him about not finishing the drill. It was simply something that reminded Donnie of how much he was needed and appreciated. To a certain extent.

"Complications of the mind are never fading." Donnie muttered, trying to think back to how Mikey was working with circuits. "If only I could manage circuit work that well."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How, exactly, am I supposed to work, with all of your junk on the table?" Donnie asked, crossing his arms.

Raph and Leo shrugged, while Mikey simply fiddled with his fingers, slowly pulling his head into his shell. With a groan, Donnie sat, deciding to just make room by moving a pile of used plates and cups on the table. It was dinnertime, and Donnie had, for once in a while, decided to eat in the kitchen with his brothers. It was awkwardly quiet, and Donnie muttered whilst looking through a few papers of his.

"Has anyone seen a-"

"If you're gonna ask about some weird tool, then, no. We probably don't even know what it looks like." Leo interrupted, flicking a pizza crumb away.

"I was  _going_ to ask, if anyone has seen a screwdriver around. But, since none of you know what a screwdriver is, I can just find it myself." Donnie replied sharply.

At that, Mikey stood, claiming that he'd lost his appetite, before walking out of the kitchen. Leo sighed, standing and following Mikey.

"Why is he so upset? I always say things like that." Donnie asked, incredibly confused.

"Yeah, well, maybe you should try to actually  _think_ before you say things, Mr. Genius." Raph huffed, standing and walking out of the kitchen as well.

Being the only one in the kitchen, Donnie decided to roll his eyes, and take advantage of the situation. The quiet of an empty room, mixed with the smell of pizza helped Donnie concentrate much better than usual. For what reason this was, Donatello was unsure, but he dared not to question it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you really expect me to believe that Mario could beat Luigi?" Leo asked, looking at Raph incredulously.

"Why not?" Raph replied.

"Luigi is a coward! He could never beat Mario in a battle!" Leo scoffed.

"But Luigi is green! And green means winner!" Raph shouted.

"Ooh. Good point." Leo chimed.

Mikey giggled, amused by his brothers' strange conversation. This had been going on for an hour or so, and the trio had decided to start a game of Super Mario Bros to see which brother would win. Surprisingly, neither brother won. Because Princess Peach beat them both to pulps.

"How dare." Leo huffed.

"That was... unexpected." Raph muttered.

"What was?" Donnie asked, walking into the living room.

"Mario and Luigi were both beat by Princess Peach." Leo answered.

"Wait. Huh? How is that even possible? Is that in the coding?" Donnie asked.

"Well, it wasn't until we got it upgraded." Raph responded.

"By whom?"

"Who else? Mi- OW!" Raph yelped, holding his arm, which had been punched harshly. "I mean... April. She's been working on coding for the past few days..."

Donnie hummed in surprise, deciding to call April later on in the day to see if this was true. For the time being, however, Donnie decided to sit and hang out with his brothers. Happy chatter erupted from Raph and Leo, who invited Donnie to play a round of jacked Tetris. Mikey simply sat quietly, giggling every time he was poked and prodded at to make sure he was still alive.

"Have you been feeling okay, Michael? You've been really quiet lately." Donnie inquired, silencing his brothers.

Okay, this was starting to get annoying.

"Would someone please tell me what I said?!" Donnie shouted, standing up angrily. "Why is it, that I keep getting nothing more than blank stares, and angry outbursts every time I ask Mikey why he's been upset?!"

Leo said nothing, standing, and walking into his room, exiting after a few seconds, and shoving a pile of papers into Donnie's arms. Donnie raised a brow, looking over the papers. A minute or two passed, and Donnie's eyes widened as he continued reading, eventually dropping the papers and looking to his brothers with shock.

"That's right. His IQ, is 400, Donatello. Our baby brother is  _literally a genius_ , and you took it upon yourself to try and rob him of that. Not  _only that_ , however, but you decided to try and increase it without his permission! 400, is his standing IQ, and you of all mutants should realize what you could have done to him." Leo hissed.

"But, that's impossible! He rarely ever-"

"Acts as if I have a standing IQ of 400? Yes, we are all aware of that, brother." Mikey sighed, voice as soft as it was during his time of increased intelligence. "It is not my place, nor is it my intent to outdo any of you in any field. I was aware of my role in the family as soon as I was old enough to properly process the intellectual standard of each mutant in the lair. Thus, leading me to push aside my intelligence, and act as the innocent child that you know me as."

"So, you're saying, that you've been smarter than me this whole time, but you've never done anything to show it?" Donnie asked.

"I did not want to tear a rift in between us. Once again, it is not my place, nor intent to outdo you." Mikey responded, staying eerily calm. "While it did hurt to have you doubt my capabilities, I decided to push past it. There is no reason to dwell on names that will most likely not matter in the future. No matter how...  _childish_."

Donnie groaned, inwardly cringing. Had the Softshell known about his brother's intellect, he would have held back on almost every insult given.

"Because of your respect for someone just as intelligent, or even smarter than you." Mikey scoffed, somehow having read Donnie's mind. "If I cannot be an acceptable brother to you without my standing intellect, then I see  _no reason_ as to why you deserve me now."

"Mikey, don't say that! You know that I'm just upset when I say half of the stuff I do!" Donnie shouted, moving towards his brother.

"Yes, well, it seems as if those with genius tend not to think about the things they say to those they love. Then again, love doesn't exist. Does it? Love is merely nothing more than the biological instinct of animals to reproduce. When using the term 'love' in a familial sense, the brain is tricked into believing that creatures who could be competition are simply nothing more than creatures that may benefit you in some way. We  _are_ both aware of this, are we not?"

Donnie said nothing, looking to the ground in shame. Mikey sighed in response to the action, grasping his brother's hands and giving a weak smile.

"Believe me when I say that I do love you, brother. More than one could ever imagine. But, until you can learn to treat me as I am, and not like an _idiotic child_... I will leave things as they are." Mikey assured, hugging Donnie briefly, before backing away and turning. "Mayhaps, as we get older, you will learn the errors of your words...  _brother_."

Mikey then left. Raph and Leo said nothing, both placing a hand on Donnie's shell.

"It'll be okay. You just have to learn, is all." Leo whispered.

Donnie nodded, wrapping his arms around himself. However long this learning process would take, was unknown to him. But he wished desperately for it to be fast.

Because all he wanted now, was his baby brother back.

**Author's Note:**

> I... don't know.


End file.
